


Jealous

by cinomarsh



Category: Portal (Video Game)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Jealousy, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-12
Updated: 2016-05-12
Packaged: 2018-06-07 22:46:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,319
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6828238
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cinomarsh/pseuds/cinomarsh
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Caroline is a little more frustrated at Cave for flirting with a reporter than she'd expect. Partially based on a Fuchsiamae headcanon</p>
            </blockquote>





	Jealous

Caroline sat at her desk outside of the grand double doors leading into her boss's office, quietly and diligently committing forgery.

It wasn't out of the ordinary for her, or, in this case, particularly illegal. Mr. Johnson had given her full permission a long while back to use his signature on anything he gave her to look over. He hardly even had to ask anymore.

Besides, she was the only one in the office who could do it. Mr. Johnson had tried to teach another employee, Greg, how to do it once, but he could never quite get the hang of it. He had always gotten the V wrong, Cave had told her.

So the job was left to Caroline. She and Cave were both aware that it would be entirely legal for her to sign these particular documents herself, but Cave preferred to have his name on as many papers in his facility as possible. Caroline supposed it was a matter of pride, and she didn't mind the task. In fact, she rather enjoyed it. Her own hand had always been small and precise, and she'd quickly learned that Cave's scrawling letters, especially his signature, were much more enjoyable to use. The regularity with which she used them had even begun to influence her own writing.

As Caroline finished another signature with its distinct flourish, she heard a loud laugh echo from down the hall. She recognized it at once as her boss's. Her heartbeat sped up and she tensed almost imperceptibly. She exhaled slowly, ignoring her excitement at the opportunity to see him.

She looked up just in time to see Cave Johnson, in all his confident glory, rounding the corner from the hallway, grinning at the woman he had his arm wrapped around.

Caroline's stomach dropped.

The woman was tall, with long raven hair and thin framed glasses, holding a notebook and a pen and wearing an alarmingly tight dress. She was giggling uncontrollably.

Cave had said something earlier about having an interview today. She'd advised him against it, telling him that the only thing anyone wanted to write about was the downfall of the company, but he'd waved her off.

"I'll just prove 'em wrong!" He'd told her. She was getting the impression that he wasn't currently having any trouble with that.

The interviewer's shrill laughter tore the air to shreds.

"Oh, Mr. Johnson!" She exclaimed between bouts of laughter. Cave was grinning his usual winning grin, charming as can be, allowing a deep chuckle to escape his lips. Caroline desperately wanted to leave.

But soon enough, the gleeful pair had disappeared into Cave's office, which, luckily, blocked out the remainder of their conversation, leaving the assistant in their wake.

She tasted blood, and noticed how hard she had been biting the inside of her cheek.

Late that night, long after the blushing interviewer had stumbled out of the building (without even a glance in Caroline's direction) and all the employees not in testing had gone home, only Caroline and Cave remained in the office sector of Aperture Science. Caroline was busy at her desk, squinting to read the documents in her hands by the few lights the building had on at this hour.

As she read, she heard the click of Cave's office door opening, and her head snapped up to see him walk out the door. He surveyed the room, sighing, exuding power and ownership. His brown eyes softened slightly when they landed on her. Caroline's free hand curled into a white-knuckled fist as he walked towards her. He didn't notice.

"How was your day, doll?" He asked, looking at the documents in her hands. His voice brightened the room considerably. Caroline felt lighter in spite of herself. She tried to keep reading but his shadow was making it difficult.

"Fine, sir." She replied flatly, pointing a subtle glare in his direction. Cave, again, didn't notice, his eyes wandering from her work to the door. He turned and began to walk towards it.

"Mind locking up when you leave?" His voice came from across the room, almost gone.

"Why don't you have that reporter do it for you? I'm sure she'd be more than willing." Caroline spat under her breath.

A sharp silence ensued, during which Caroline quickly realized she couldn't hear he boss's footsteps anymore. With dread tightening her chest, she looked up to see Cave standing in the doorway, looking unmistakably caught off guard. Caroline had caught Cave Johnson off guard. She felt sick.

"What?" He questioned, taking a few steps forward, the word hanging perilously in the air. Caroline swallowed.

"That reporter you came in with earlier. She was all over you." She replied, fighting to keep a tremor out of her voice as she organized the papers on her desk and packed them into a drawer.

"She was not." Cave replied, sounding... offended? Defensive? She couldn't say. She'd never heard this tone before.  
"She certainly was. And you didn't seem to mind, either." She bit back, grabbing her purse from beside her chair and standing to leave. She strode towards the door, almost making it, before-

"Caroline!" Cave reached out and caught her arm and turned her towards him, his grip firm but gentler than she'd expected. "If you think that she and I- That we were doing- We weren't, okay?"

"Then why were you flirting with her?" Caroline had no idea where the courage to accuse him of such things was coming from. Who was she to decided who Cave Johnson could and couldn't flirt with? Still, he seemed to wilt a little with every remark. She tried not to look him in the eye.

"It was all for the interview! If the reporters don't like me, they'll tear Aperture to pieces! Bad press'd be the death of us!"

"Mm." Said Caroline, biting the inside of her cheek again. There was a silence that stung.

"Caroline, are you jealous?" Cave asked slowly. Caroline's head snapped up. Her eyes met his and she wondered how long he'd been looking at her like that for.

"I am not jealous," She replied too quickly, "I- I just don't consider flirting with pretty reporters to be a valid business strategy."

"Not as pretty as you."

Time stood still. Caroline was entirely taken aback. She opened her mouth, closed it, and tried again.

"What?"

"I said," Cave replied, taking a step towards her, his hand still resting on her arm, "she's not as pretty as you."

Before Caroline had time to form a response, Cave took the opportunity to lean down and kiss her. The kiss itself wasn't anything special, just gentle lips to lips, but for Caroline the world was spinning. She closed her eyes and relaxed into it, suddenly comfortable, at ease. She wasn't frustrated or worried. For a moment, everything had fallen right into place.

And then he pulled away, releasing her arm and stepping back. She opened her eyes to see Cave Johnson looking at her with a kind of uncertainty she'd never seen before.

"Was that- alright? I mean, if I made you uncomfortable, I-"

"No!" Caroline interrupted. "No, it was fine. Good."

He grinned at her, her favourite grin, the one he used when a test went well or when an exciting new product was ready for him to show her. It was full of genuine happiness and light, his eyes shining. She couldn't help but smile back, laughing, albeit a bit awkwardly.

"Good. Excellent." He stood for a moment, just looking at her, out of words. Then he  
straightened, inhaling.

"Well, goodnight Caroline." He said.

"Goodnight, Mr. Johnson." She replied quietly.

Still grinning like a child on christmas, Cave turned and walked out of the room.

Caroline stood and listened to his footsteps until she couldn't hear them anymore, and then for a little while longer, her fingers lingering where his hand had met her arm.


End file.
